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Speaking to the media for the first time since the news about his benching, veteran Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton expressed extreme frustration over the way the team handled his benching.
Not only did the team bench Dalton in favor of rookie Ryan Finley, but they made the announcement mere hours before the trade deadline, making it virtually impossible for Dalton to be traded, despite the fact that his agent was already “exploring the available options.”
“Yeah, I think that’s an unfortunate thing [the timing of his benching]. It happened three hours before the trade deadline. I wish they would have — at least, you know, if he was thinking about it — at least let me try to see if I could end up somewhere else or, at least, see if there was interest in possibly getting traded. At that point, the way it was all handled, there wasn’t enough time to even have that happen,” Dalton said.
Dalton is basically calling out Zac Taylor and the #Bengals front office. And he has every right to. The way they handled this feels like a big slap in the face… (to the nicest guy on the team) https://t.co/KYH7WTP6jT
— Brandon Saho (@BrandonSaho) October 30, 2019
No matter how you feel about Dalton as a talent, the fact is that he’s been a starter in the NFL for eight straight seasons and is widely regarded as being one of the nicest dudes in the league — he deserved better.
While he may not be Peyton Manning heading to the Denver Broncos, imagine how much scarier a team like the Chicago Bears would be with Dalton at the helm. Not only is he durable and experienced, but he’s proven that when he’s surrounded by talent, he’s got enough in the tank to be an effective quarterback.
Instead, the Bears are stuck with Trubisky, Dalton is stuck in Cincinnati, and the Bengals still suck. Everyone loses, and apparently, that’s just how the Bengals like it.
Plus, to add insult to injury, this all happened on Dalton’s birthday. They’re just monsters, those tiger-stripped, Skyline Chili-lovin’ bastards.
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Eric is a New York City-based writer who still isn’t quite sure how he’s allowed to have this much fun for a living and will tell anyone who listens that Gotham City is canonically in New Jersey. Contact him on Twitter @eric_ital or via email eric@brobible.com